Personal Post -My Journey with Bii ( Breast Implant Illness)

WOW It’s been forever since I have blogged, but as a goal of mine in 2020 I will be posting here a lot more and what better way to start the year with a VERY personal post. Major Vulnerability Alert … When it comes to very personal things I share very little on here … like most people we show the “highlight reel” social media and believe me I changed my mind 500 times as to if I should post this or not … but something in my gut told me I need to share this because if it hadn’t have been for other women having the guts to share with me … I wouldn’t have made this huge step to better health and life and if I have the chance to help others and spreading awareness, I will.

8 years ago , I underwent breast augmentation surgery like many women do and like so many women I was told that they are completely safe, I had the Gummy Bear Implants that were never suppose leak or rupture ( NOW WE KNOW THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME)… I had had two kids and felt very self conscious about my body and thought This was a great safe way to get my body looking how I wanted. About 4-5 years ago I started getting all these symptoms that were unexplained by my doctors, no one could figure out why I was having them . Over the last 5 years I had been to countless doctors apts , saw specialists , had ultrasounds , saw Naturalpathic doctors , did blood tests , made diet changes …. just to name a few things and NOTHING helped . I experienced severe brain fog ,I felt I was living in a dark cloudy bubble, debilitating chronic fatigue I was having to nap EVERY single day for a min of 3 hours and would never wake up feeling rested. I could sleep 20 hours wake up for an hour and go back to sleep for another 20 hours NO PROBLEM and still woke up feeling like i got hit by a bus , severe hormone imbalances, Anemia , vertigo , gut health issues, food intolerance ,anxiety ,heart palpitations, night sweats , very dry skin , hair loss, muscle tension & constant headaches, I would have hot flashes and start sweating profusely doing pretty much any kind of activity even something as simple as vacuuming , Temperature intolerance couldn’t go out in the heat without feeling sick & getting instant heat rash , my periods were SO heavy I won’t elaborate on that one But my Iron was so low I had to get frequent iron transfusions at the hospital …weight gain I gained over 35 pounds and couldn’t lose it . Low/no Libido . The whites of my eyes were red and sore and my face & body was always swollen. I suffered from increased depression , mental health issues all this drastically took over my life. I was a HOT MESS!

I used to be a very outgoing person, I turned into “that friend” Constantly cancelling plans , and became very been distant with those closest to me. i could barely cope with life anymore . I finally had saw a post about “Bii” “breast implant illness” … once I started reading the thousands of stories of women going through the exact same things and I was , everything in my body told me THIS was my answer … I had the exact same symptoms as thousands of other women worldwide. Now I’m not saying all women get this, I have friends who have implants and don’t have symptoms of Bii … but for SO many people when their bodies are constantly fighting these Foreign toxic objects in your body ( which by the way are made up of 40 chemicals ) and eventually your immune system just gives up and your body starts to shut down .

It’s been 3.5 months post en-bloc ex-plant surgery many of my symptoms are Gone and I’m super confident soon ALL of my symptoms will be GONE . My head is clear , my eyes are bright , my skin is clear , the biggest one is my chronic fatigue … I feel rested when I wake up it’s getting better everyday , my hot flashes are GONE , my period, barely there … I have more energy , I’m SO HAPPY with my decision to explant … I can slowly start to get my life back . I’m thankful for @karolinaturek who shared her journey with me & gave me support in Making the decision to explant and my family for always being by my side in the hardest time in my life . Thank you to women like @thebirdspapaya who promote healthy body image , and to trust and respect our bodies .

IMPLANTS WITH THE CAPSULES AROUND THEMIMPLANTS WITH CAPSULES REMOVED. MINE WERE FORTUNATELY NOT RUPTURED.

I’m not going to Lie the recovery was Rough. It wasn’t like getting them in a one inch incision. They call it an anchor incision and that is what it looks like , large incision along the bottom of the breast, up the middle and around the nipple. I also opted to have a lift and I am very happy with that decision. It wasn’t pretty and even 3 months after I still very tender along the sides of my breast tissue. But the scars will fade and I was no longer worried about how they look, as long as I could feel better. If you have Bii you HAVE TO get the capsule that is around the breast implant removed. Its called an EN BLOC CAPSULECTOMY . If you do not you most likely won’t get better. The Capsule is something your body creates as a defense against a foreign object in your body, it can contain the chemicals and the bacteria from the implants so if it’s left in your body you will not get better. The doctor will cut an incision along the breast and remove the capsule and implant without harming the capsule casing therefore ensuring there is no silicone leakage into the body as well. This scar tissue will come out at the same time as the implant. What can make this procedure difficult is the capsule may be very difficult to peel off of the chest wall + can be very thin. This is why I went to Dr. Aaron Brown, he was very committed to ensuring to remove as much of the capsule as possible. www.abbotsfordplasticsurgery.com

hours after surgery-I DIDN’T FEEL SHARP PAIN JUST MAJOR PRESSURE AND TIGHTNESS.

After surgery I had drains put in both sides for 5 days to drain out any blood to reduce risk of infection, those were the most annoying and painful part. No heavy lifting for 6-8 weeks. I will admit that I had false expectations of waking up from surgery and being able to feel like I wanted to run a marathon, and I didn’t feel immediate relief of my symptoms… but I realized it takes TIME to heal, it takes TIME for our bodies to recovery and heal from the toxins and the abuse of fighting implants for all those years.

ONE WEEK POST SURGERY

They say Knowledge is power so I hope by sharing my journey it will help others who are struggling to realize they are not alone . I know the healing has just begun for me and I am so excited for the future. Thank you to Dr. Brown @abbotsfordplasticsurgery https://www.abbotsfordplasticsurgery.com/ for believing that “bii” is real and helping people . If you are suffering don’t hesitate to reach out to me . THE HEAL IS REAL. Today is #biiawarenessday2020 sharing is caring . —